Bluffton hearts & darts

Hearts ... to the jobs report that came out Friday and showed that the U.S. economy isn’t down for the count.

A stronger-than-expected 146,000 jobs were created in November, helping trim the jobless rate to 7.7 percent, a four-year low.

The dark cloud in the report was a drop in the size of the workforce, which signaled that some people may have given up searching for jobs.

Analysts say the latest monthly jobs data is one more sign that the U.S. economy is holding its own after four years of the weakest recovery from a recession in half a century.

GRINCHES OUT IN BLUFFTON

Darts ... to the Grinches who are vandalizing Christmas decorations and stealing items from people in Bluffton neighborhoods.

While police believe the people responsible are juveniles, it makes us wonder what the parents of those juveniles are doing or not doing while the teenagers are out being destructive.

People spend a lot of time, energy and money on decorating for the holiday season and it’s a shame that we have some who want to make the holidays less cheery by damaging and stealing decorations.

We hope the people responsible are caught and held accountable for their actions.

WHARF STREET HOMES HAVE OWNERS

Hearts ... to the town of Bluffton for closing two of the six homes in the Wharf Street redevelopment project. A third home is close to closing and that would mean three others remain available for purchase to qualified buyers.

The program has come under fire from some local residents who think it could have been done privately, faster and for less money.

We think the town has learned a lot by being involved in the affordable housing initiative and we are sure if and when it tackles another similar project that it can be done differently. But we also realize there is plenty of red tape and lots of hoops to jump through when dealing with federal grants and other programs used to help Bluffton people get these homes.

The town is not in the housing business, but it is in the business of providing opportunities.

DISCLOSE THE REASONS FOR LEAVE

Darts ... to the misinformation and lack of information coming from the Beaufort County School District and its leaders in regard to the “personnel” situation at H.E. McCracken Middle School.

The principal has been on paid leave for more than a month and nobody seems to really know why. An office manager also is MIA. An unauthorized bank account used by the school’s PTO was found and turned over to the Bluffton police. That case has been closed, but not before a lot of questions and misinformation got out.

It’s time for the school district to outline what happened and what the next steps are. Taxpayers are footing the bill for these staffers to be out on paid leave. We deserve answers. And accurate ones.

THANK YOU, DAN DURYEA

Hearts ... to Beaufort County Council candidate Dan Duryea and his family, and campaign supporters for taking the steps to go out and track down political signs that were in ditches and along the roadways three weeks after the Nov. 6 election.

After a little prodding, Duryea made a sweep of District 7 where he put his signs campaigning for the Beaufort County Council seat and by last Sunday afternoon, he said none could be found. He said in an email to Bluffton Today last Sunday after we called him out in this column for his signs, that he searched high and low for the signs. Thank you for that effort.

We’re glad there is no sign of the local political signs. We can now move on to other more pressing matters.